Don’t think, just do

Our days in Fort Albany might be coming to an end.

We have two one-way tickets to Timmins booked for next Thursday. We are going to move as much of our belongings into our new house as possible. We will spend about 10 days in Timmins, during which time we plan to shop for appliances and furniture and just maybe get a job or two. I am still waiting to hear about the job I interviewed for a couple of weeks back. If I’m offered the job, and the conditions are acceptable, then we’ll stay in Timmins. If I cannot secure a job, we’ll return to Fort Albany where Christine will go back to work at the hospital and I’ll teach part-time for the College and stay home with Jonas on days I don’t work. I also have my freelance writing to occupy myself with, which I can work away at while looking after the little guy.

Our house closes next Friday and we have signed off on the conditions. It was a stressful week, finalizing our mortage and getting home insurance. We think everything is coming together, but we don’t really no what to expect. One thing is for sure: next Friday we’ll be handing over the biggest check of our lives. Yikes!

An Incredible Few Days

Well, the past few days have been exciting, and we’re still trying to catch our breath over the exhileration. Christine and I made a conditional offer that was accepted on a house in Timmins on Thursday. This is our first home, and much like the birth of our first child, it’s a special event.

The house is a three-bedroom, four-level backsplit (whatever that means) in the Mount Joy area of Timmins, which is one of the preferred neighbourhoods. The house meets our needs perfectly - it is about 1,800 or so square feet with a mostly finished basement. The part of the basement that is finished is extremely big and bright, and has the feel of a living room rather than a basement. We would have hoped for a bigger backyard, but you can’t have everything.

We don’t have a moving date as of yet. Truth be told, we settled on Timmins as a place to live because job prospects look really good for Christine, with every nursing agency including the hospital crying out for RNs. I have a few irons in the fire as well. We wanted to buy now before the market heats up in the spring which would mean paying more. We ended up winning a bidding war for our house, feeling strongly that this house is the one for us.

Christine is going back to work from Mat leave on April 2, and I am hoping to job share my Northern College teaching job with someone in order to stay home with Jonas when Christine has to work. That is our plan as of right now.

Cheap shot of the year goes to Cam Janssen

Welcome to Fort Albany, where, sans wife and boy, I have continued my hockey viewing in earnest. I have watched a game every day since for 10 straight days. Last night I watched the Atlanta Thrashers defeat the Ottawa Senators 4-2, rallying for 3 goals in third to do so. It was truly a bizarre game, mainly because the ice was so bad that completing a pass was a major challenge. There’s still something I don’t like about the Senators. They just don’t seem to play with much urgency. Is it just me, or are Alfredsson, Spezza and Redden overrated? I am tempted to include Heatley in that category, but he does have 40 goals this season after scoring 50 last year.

I wished I could have watched the Leafs-Devils game, but Star Choice blacks out all the games in the "Leafs Region", much to my chagrin. The lowlight of the game was the inexplicable cheap shot Cam Janssen perpetrated on Tomas Kaberle, sending him off the ice on a stretcher. Good gracious, that was vicious - and there was no penalty called on the play because it was so far behind the play. Kaberle had just delivered a pass up ice from his own blueline when Janssen came at him late and delivered what appeared to be an elbow to his head. It may have been a shoulder - I will have to check the replay again. At any rate, it was ridiculously late, and it was a complete blindside. Kaberle couldn’t see him coming at all. It reminded me somewhat of Domi’s hit on Niedermayer in the 2001 playoffs. I haven’t heard any analysis on the hit yet, so this is my unfiltered opinion. Janssen should be suspended, no question. But for how many games? I would say this a 15-gamer, minimum. The league obviously has a duty to protect its players. Anything less, in my opinion, is a farce.

Diet update: I weighed in on Thursday and have lost another pound. That makes 2 pounds in four weeks. Sure, it’s not like the pounds are falling off me, but 2 pounds a month over several months is my aim. Most importantly, my changed eating habits haven’t left me famished. I am finding that a fruit salad or jello is just as satisfying as ice cream; purefied water is just as good as pop or other sugared beverages; fruit is a good replacement for granola bars; eggs make a better lunch than canned foods or processed meats. I haven’t increased my exercise yet. I am hoping to get back into running once the weather gets nice. Rex, the marathon runner, has offered to run with me, but I would not be able to keep up.

Jonathan Cheechoo article in ESPN Magazine

If you access the link on the right, you can read a fantastic magazine article about Jonathan Cheechoo, his family’s history, and the community of Moose Factory. It is probably the best article I’ve ever read about Jonathan. It is written by Gare Joyce.